What Does It Feel Like to Be an Immigrant in Georgia?

When Jessica, a teenager who recently moved from East Asia, talks about her first year in an American high school, she does not sugarcoat her experience.

“High school here feels like one big desensitization training,” she said. “On social media, I used to imagine it as football games, smiling groups of friends, and glamorous homecoming photos. The truth is that it is exhausting.”

Jessica’s exhaustion comes not only from academics but also from the constant effort to belong. “My social life has been crushed by the language barrier,” she explained. “It is not just about learning more English. It is the fear that I will use the wrong word or say something with the wrong pronunciation. I never used to be this sensitive, but now every sentence feels like a test.”

At lunch, Jessica often found herself sitting alone or with students who were also isolated from the main social groups. “It shows how much I do not fit anywhere,” she admitted. “Sometimes I feel like I do not have the energy to study and also figure out how to be accepted.”

She knows that many people would tell her she should be grateful. “That is the hardest part,” she said. “I have access to an excellent education here, and everyone reminds me of that. But when I say I am tired or unhappy, people think I am ungrateful. They do not see loneliness.”

Behind her quiet exterior, Jessica struggles with larger questions of identity. “Immigrant life is complicated,” she said. “Sometimes I feel more distant from other East Asian immigrants than from my American friends. We are similar, but not the same. It feels like a cultural uncanny valley, close but never close enough.”

Even labels can hurt. “I see how people use words like ‘Asian American.’ It is supposed to show diversity, but it also puts us in a box,” she said. “I do not always want to talk about how I am different, but it feels like people expect me to.”

Still, Jessica is learning how to make peace with her path. “I have thought about giving up, but I cannot. I need to give an answer to my family, and I need to give meaning to the struggles I have faced,” she said. “So I tell myself to give it time, to allow myself to break down when I need to, and to keep going.”

She paused, then added quietly, “I am still learning. But maybe that is okay.”